Drunk Man Chases German PoWs

Peacock Inn, Lake Street c.1910 [Z1432/3/1/8/5]

Thursday 28th February 1918: William Dickins, a 60 year old labourer from Chalk Hill, Houghton Regis, has been charged with being drunk and disorderly on the highway at Leighton Buzzard on Tuesday. Police Sergeant Dennis said that Dickins was throwing his arms about in Market Square and a crowd of children had collected around him. Dickins was advised to behave himself and leave, but he went round to the back of the Peacock Inn where he said he had a gun. He was told he would not be allowed to have the gun and was asked to leave the premises, but he eventually had to be arrested and locked up. Earlier in the evening he had been seen running after German prisoners in Bridge Street; his conduct towards them had been very bad. Dickins said he remembered nothing about it and was sorry for what he had done. He had three sons serving the country and had got rather excited as one had just gone back to the front. The Chairman of the Bench noted that it had been five years since Dickins had last appeared in Court and fined him five shillings.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 5th March 1918

Luton's First Labour Justice of the Peace

William Mair, 1918 [Luton News]

Tuesday 26th February 1918: The first Labour man to be appointed a Justice of the Peace for Luton will take his seat on the Borough Bench for the first time tomorrow. Mr. William James Mair, who was born in Glasgow, has lived in Luton for about 35 years. He started work at High Town Foundry as a moulder. He then went to the Langley Foundry; when it merged with the Davis Gas Stove Company he moved to the Diamond Foundry, where he has remained ever since apart from one interval. He has long been interested in Trade Unionism and is a member of the Central Iron Moulders, which he has served in various capacities. He has been a member of the County Appeals Tribunal since its foundation, is a member of the Luton War Pensions Committee, and is Chairman of the Local Advisory Committee set up by the Ministry of Labour to deal with industrial questions. He is expected to be a great asset to the Bench as he “is level-headed, talks only when he has something to say, and is very practical”.

Source: Luton News, 21st February 1918

Thanks for Leighton Buzzard War Hospital Depot

Workhouse at Grovebury Road, Leighton Buzzard in use as a hospital c.1915 [Z1432/3/12/2]

Saturday 23rd February 1918: Mrs. Cowper, the Secretary of the War Hospital Depot at Leighton Buzzard, has received the following letter of thanks from the Edmonton Military Hospital:

“I am most anxious that the lady workers in your depot should know how much their assistance is valued. The numerous gifts which you have sent us, including various kinds of splints, personal garments, and surgical supplies, have all been urgently needed, and it has been very gratifying to me to know that my appeal to you met with such a ready response. If the ladies who make these things could occasionally visit a hospital where the numerous demands are made for them, they would realise how much their efforts were appreciated. When attending a depot week after week, I feel sure they must sometimes wonder what becomes of all the garments they make; but I can assure you that without their voluntary help we should not have been able to carry one as easily as we do at present, and I thank them most gratefully for making it possible for me to supply the wants which are daily made at the gift store.”

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 19th February 1918

Leighton Buzzard Gas Company

Billington Road showing damage caused by sand traffic 1917-18 [Hi/CRM/1/3/3]

Thursday 21st February 1918: At the annual meeting of the Leighton Buzzard Gas Company, held yesterday at the Gasworks, it was reported that extensive repairs to both pipes and equipment will need to be made this year. The heavy tractors used for sand traffic in the town have caused considerable damage to the mains and service pipes, increasing the amount of gas lost during the year to around two million cubic feet, valued at £250. Due to the expected cost of repairs the Directors had already increased the price of gas by four pence per 1,000 cubic feet with effect from January 1st.

The Company hopes that the authorities will decide to build a tramway or light railway for the sand traffic before much more damage is done to the roads and the gas mains. It has also become necessary to increase capacity at the gasworks as demand continues to increase, both for industry – especially the munition works – and for eating and cooking. This is not proving easy due to wartime conditions, and it is hoped that permission will be granted to build a water gas plant in the summer in order to meet expected demand for next winter.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 26th February 1918

Bedford Soldier in Court on Bigamy Charge

Pavenham, c.1912 [Z1306/87/5/5]

Tuesday 19th February 1918: Albert Victor Herbert, a soldier from Bedford, has appeared at the Maidenhead Police Court on a charge of bigamy. His wife Agnes, the daughter of Thomas Clare of Pavenham, said she married him at the Bedford Registry Office in 1911 and they had two children. Her husband was home on leave last July and wrote frequently. Mabel Haynes, of Norfolk Park Cottages, Maidenhead, said that she met Private Herbert when his regiment was stationed at Maidenhead in January 1916 and started walking out with him. After hearing rumours that he was a married man she questioned him and he denied it. When he went to France he wrote her a letter every day. When the rumours that he was married were repeated he advised her to write to a “Mrs Childs” at Willesden, who told her that Private Herbert was an old friend and a “straight man”, who had been married but was now a widower, his wife having died in childbirth two years ago. After this they arranged to marry on December 22nd last year. The “married man” rumours still continued, and he gave a document supposedly signed by a lieutenant of his regiment certifying that “Herbert was not a married man, as has been stated”. They finally married at Maidenhead Parish Church on 30th January. She stayed with him at Maidenhead for some time before he left for Hitchin, ostensibly to get his discharge; he had since visited her occasionally. Private Herbert was refused bail and was committed for trial at the Assizes. The Mayor remarked on the fact that he gave his age as 21 at the first wedding and 22 at the second, six years later!

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 22nd February 1922

[1]  Albert Victor Herbert was found guilty of aggravated bigamy at the Berkshire Assizes on 4th June 1918, and was sentenced to prison for 12 months. 

Luton War Babies

Baby in a perambulator, c.1910 [Z1261/1/13]

Saturday 16th February 1918: The Luton Board of Guardians is gravely concerned about the increasing problem of “war babies”. There have never been so many children in the Workhouse, most of them illegitimate. There are currently sixteen in the infirmary in addition to those being cared for in the infant section. Councillor Bone complained that the Government was “encouraging this sort of thing” because it wanted “all the babies they could possibly get”.

Source: Leighton Buzzard Observer, 12th February 1918

Restrictions on Canteens at Bedford

Soldiers at Bunyan Canteen, Bedford, 1914-18 [Z1306/12/11/4]

Wednesday 13th February 1918: Following a meeting called by the Mayor of Bedford, canteens serving soldiers in the town have been asked to restrict the amount of meat and margarine that they use. Canteen managers have now submitted returns showing that in one week soldiers consumed 160 lbs of margarine, 3500 lbs of bread, 183 gallons 3 quarts of milk, and 225 tins of condensed milk – all in addition to their normal rations. A proposition that a letter should be sent to the Army authorities by the Bedford Food Control Committee expressing alarm at the amount of bread and milk being consumed by soldiers was carried. There was also concern that soldiers were using restaurants in the town. This was considered unfair when they were already receiving more rations than civilians and it was suggested that restaurants should be put out of bounds. Instructions had been received by the Food Control Committee that sugar certificates were to be withdrawn from caterers and canteen, with stock to be held by the committee. Tea was also of concern, but supplies were coming in very gradually.

Source: Bedfordshire Standard, 8th and 15th February 1918